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Written Question
Africa: Climate Change
Monday 30th January 2023

Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to help support participation by (a) African states, (b) the African Union and (c) the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area in the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate launched on 19 January 2023.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The UK is committed to working with African partners to ensure trade supports long-term climate action.

The Secretary of State for International Trade participated in the inaugural meeting of the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate, alongside 7 African trade ministers.


Written Question
Iron and Steel: Russia
Monday 30th January 2023

Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2023 to Question 119982 on Iron and Steel: Russia, if she will take steps to prevent steel exported from Russia from entering the UK through third countries.

Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The UK Government does not speculate on future sanctions measures as to do so could reduce their impact. We will continue to apply pressure against Putin and his regime, until Ukraine prevails, or Putin ends his war of choice.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave him on 17 January 2023, UIN 119982, for further detail on the measures on iron and steel taken to date.


Written Question
Trade Agreements: USA
Monday 30th January 2023

Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2023 to Question 123935, on Trade Agreements: USA, whether any projects involving (a) new cooperation on digital trade or (b) securing supply chains have resulted from the talks held in Boston and Edinburgh; and if she will list the joint projects on SME tools to support UK and US firms mentioned in that Answer.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Following the UK-US small and medium sized enterprises (SME) Dialogue in Edinburgh, the UK and US governments agreed to convene government officials for expert-level discussions on digital trade and customs and trade facilitation, and identify opportunities for deeper cooperation on digital issues and paperless trading. The UK and US also agreed to update and enhance resources for SME exporters, such as the existing toolkits on intellectual property and doing business in the UK and the US.


Written Question
Trade Agreements
Monday 30th January 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how often her Department plans to conduct ex-post evaluations of the implementation of new free trade agreements.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The government has committed to publishing evaluations of each of the UK-Japan, UK-Australia and UK-New Zealand agreements, within 5 years of each agreement’s entry into force.


Written Question
World Economic Forum
Friday 27th January 2023

Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the cost to the public purse was of her travel arrangements for the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Details of Ministerial travel are routinely recorded on the Department’s transparency returns, published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dit-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings. Returns are published on a quarterly basis.


Written Question
Department for International Trade: Trade Unions
Friday 27th January 2023

Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what human resources information their Department shares with trade unions on a regular basis.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Department for International Trade regularly shares information with the recognised departmental trade unions where appropriate and that supports union representatives in carrying out their responsibilities under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. This includes details on pay, terms and conditions and other human resource policies, as well as information regarding employee experience initiatives and other organisational transformation or change which is shared as part of regular trade union engagement.

In addition, a range of information regarding the departmental workforce is available publicly on GOV.UK.


Written Question
Trade Promotion
Friday 27th January 2023

Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department has considered the potential merits of increasing the involvement of the UK's diverse diasporas in trade delegations; and whether she has made a recent assessment of the diversity of trade delegations.

Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Department for International Trade (DIT) aims to be a diverse, inclusive department that is representative of the communities we serve. DIT supports and embeds the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion strategy to promote fair representation within the workforce, with a number of actions to support increased representation of underrepresented groups.

This includes the Export Strategy, within which our commitments will be underpinned by improving our data on diversity and inclusion in international trade. Recent trade delegations have included DIT support to the Tavola Food and Drink Trade show in Belgium in March 2022, where DIT supported 20 businesses, 10 of which were from an ethnic minority background, to exhibit their products.


Written Question
World Economic Forum
Friday 27th January 2023

Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she held discussions with the United States Trade Representative at the World Economic Forum in December 2022.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Secretary of State had a bilateral discussion with the United States Trade Representative at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 18th January 2023.

This was their second bilateral discussion since the Secretary of State’s appointment in September 2022.


Written Question
Overseas Trade: USA
Friday 27th January 2023

Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many times she has met with the United States Trade Representative since September 2022.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Secretary of State had a bilateral discussion with the United States Trade Representative at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 18th January 2023.

This was their second bilateral discussion since the Secretary of State’s appointment in September 2022.


Written Question
World Economic Forum
Friday 27th January 2023

Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will list the meetings she held whilst at the World Economic Forum in December 2022.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

All meetings held by the Secretary of State in her Ministerial capacity are routinely released on quarterly Departmental transparency returns. These will be published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dit-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings in due course.